17勛圖

17勛圖 AstroSims

The 17勛圖 Astrosims project aims to support astronomy education by:

• Updating existing educational simulations from Flash to Javascript, and
• Develop new simulations to address topics formerly unsupported by the Astronomy Education community
• Curating extant browser-accessible educational simulations

 

 

Our Simulations

We are steadily working on new simulations.  Check here for updates!

• Light and Matter
  • BETA 
• Solar System structure
  • BETA
• Stars
  • BETA 
  • BETA
• Astrobiology
• Galaxies and Cosmology
• Critical thinking
  •  

Who are we?

• PI: Geoff Mathews, Ph.D. (mathewsgeoff@foothill.edu)
• Development lead: Baba Kofi Weusijana, Ph.D. (weusijanababakofi@fhda.edu)
• Development team, Winter and Spring 2020:  Chris Achenbach, Safi Mohammed, Andrew Tran

Publications

• Visit our from the , held online June 1 through 3, 2020

Retired sims

• We have retired our simulation, because we added no additional functionality in our re-implementation and the University of Nebraska team has made .  

 

Other Astronomy Simulations

 

 

We maintain a list of Astro-education simulations by topic. 

1. The first sheet matches Flash simulations from the largest collection - the University of Nebraska at Lincoln - to similar HTML5 simulations (or, in some cases, re-implementations).  
2. The second sheet lists simulations addressing further topics - almost 200!    

 

Here we list collections of simulations and individual simulations written in modern frameworks (e.g., HTML5).  Simulations in Flash and Java are noted.  

• Collections
  • Flash with Ruffle emulation.  The has a set of simulations covering a wide range of topics in astronomy.  Their full library is now being run online using to emulate the Flash environment: .  Note that some of the sims are glitchy in Ruffle emulation.  They have also posted of the applets to sustain classroom use, and have created of a few of their simulations.    
  • A team at has rebuilt several of the UNL simulations in Javascript, and provides useful guidance for carrying out further conversions.  
  •  hosts a set of simulations written by Kevin Dilts addressing a variety of topics.  
  • The (Nicole P. Vogt) has several simulations and data interpretation tools - with labs! - including a  and a  
  • The , while physics focused, include numerous tools that are helpful for astronomy teaching (for example, Gravity and Orbits).  Some of their simulations have not yet been updated from Flash and Java.
  • has numerous astro-useful simulations in JavaScript.  
  • has an entire section of astronomy simulations. 
  • has written a large set of Javascript simulations, including and optics. 
  • A nice set of  from Michael Fowler at the University of Virginia.
  • has built a Baye's simulator, stellar spectrum visualizer, galaxy distribution by redshift viewer, and terrestrial world density simulator.
  • The has a large collection of HTML5 simulations, several of which are astro-relevant.  The have an especially strong set of climate-science related simulations.  
  • has a large number of astronomy simulations, as well as more general mathematics, physics, and chemistry. 
  • has detailed simulations related to planet hunting and climate change, as well as online units.   
  • has simulations addressing seasons, orbits, and scale.  
  • The  has made several simulations related to gravity and orbits.  
  • has a set of high quality atmospheric modeling tools.  While not aimed at novices, with additional scaffolding, these could be used with student projects.  

  • The and collections, by Thomas M羹ller, focuses on 3D visualizations of both renaissance astronomy discoveries like the motions of the planets and cosmology topics such as the expansion of the universe and gravitational lensing.  

  • Brian Mulligan has made several simulations that .  
  • , made by retired physics teacher Tom Walsh, is focused on physics topics but has many astro-relevant simulations, especially in optics
  • A large number of astronomy simulations, written in Mathematica, have been posted with .  Most of these will work in browser, but many were optimized for use in a dekstop app.
  • Juergen Giesen's collection has a large number of simulations, mostly focusing on solar system motions.
  • Some of the sample models included with address astronomy relevant topics (e.g., motion of particles in a gas).  This modeling tool is also designed with an easy on-ramp for developing ones own simple  simulations.
  • Python is a set of Python scripts setup to run online with Binder.  
  • Java  Chris Mihos'  is now defunct.  However, the code is available and they welcome reimplementations (with credit, of course!)
  • Flash , at Harvard's Center for Astronomy, has a sequence of models and observing simulators that build up to interpretation of exoplanet transit data.  
• Individual simulations and tools
  • Heather Flewelling has made an using images from the Pan-STARRS telescope.  
  • Rick Tu has written a very thorough .
  • illustrates how the sun's apparent size and altitude would vary if the Earth was flat.
  • , by the Las Cumbres Observatories Global Telescope Network, simulates tracking a star's temperature and luminosity over its lifetime.  
  • Ian Short at St. Mary's University has made an incredibly thorough star + habitable zone simulator, .
  • Go 1.9 deprecated , a visualization of about 100,000 nearby stars (plus some artistic license on larger scales).  Note, it doesn't appear to make use of color or luminosity information, only position and distance.
  • is a game-ified n-body solar system simulator in which one can explore gravitational interactions between planets.  
  • from the NExSS ROCKE-3D project at NASA Goddard.
  • A different , emphasizing geologic processes, from the Earth Life Science Institute. 
  • (since humanity has now become an astronomical process, by changing our atmosphere!) 
  • NASA's is an advanced tool for generating planetary spectra.  
  • Flash  simulator (there is a version, as well)
  • Flash The at the Windows to the Universe site allows you to adjust a comet's orbit and see the formation and dissipation of the dust and ion tails.
  • Thomas Moore has written a allowing one to adjust a three-parameter dark matter distribution model to match observed rotation curves.   
  • John Walker's simulation of an
  • simulation of binary black holes shows the local spatial distortions that launch gravitational waves, from a team at UT Dallas

Please email us with other simulations to include on the list!  Contact Geoff Mathews at mathewsgeoff@foothill.edu

 

Support

AstroSims was supported in Winter and Spring quarters of 2020 by a 17勛圖 Equity and Innovation Grant